Wednesday, 29 April 2015

The collection of Sassanid figures come from Old Glory
and was a painted ten years ago. My painting skills have since then improved
and I thought about enhancing these by adding more colour and details and so
started with the nobles.

The cataphract (4Kn) appear initially from 225 AD
onwards and as this project goal will carry to mid-3rd century I
will here. The cataphract were given a coat of black so I could dry-brush bronze,
iron or a mix on each base. Plumes, cloaks and harnesses would also receive a
new splash of paint.

Tuesday, 28 April 2015

Gathering a list of opponents for this project, Rome’s
eastern frontier saw a change of dynasty in the land of the Tigris and Euphrates
from the Arsacids (Parthia) to the House of Sassan (Sassanid). Researching the
history I found the rebellion an eventual overthrow of Parthia offered great
potential as a campaign.

Most histories and the DBA 3.0 Army List benchmark 220
AD as the start date of Sassan, while I find the rebellion which began in Khir (200
AD), a province of Parthia of far more interest.

To find more about events leading to the turn of
century I bought Rawlinson’s Parthia and The Roman Eastern Frontier and the
Persian Wars AD 226 - 363 compiled by M.H. Dodgeon and S.N. Lien. The latter is
highly recommended and gives a wealth of detail and avenues for further
investigation (Church records), while Parthia is a classic; it does not cover
the twilight period as well as the early centuries.

Looking at the army list for Sassan (II/69), this is
now divided into three sub-groups; a.) 220 – 224 AD, b.) 225 – 493 AD, and c.)
494 – 631 AD. The reader will note that Parthia (II/37) ends at 225 AD; this
covers that portion held by Artabanus V.

List a) would cover the first two decades of rebellion
rather well having nobles classed as 3Kn, Asavaran cavalry Cv and an adequate
number of nomad horse archers LH.

Thursday, 16 April 2015

Tonight's theme continued the Sassan rebellion in
220 AD against Parthia. This would offer an opportunity to experiment with
allied contingents for both sides and as we would play two commands per side, an
allied contingent within each command would give us ample testing.

2 x Command Parthia adjusted to 3 x 4Kn,
6 x 2LH.

1 x City State contingent; 1 x 4Kn, 1 x 3Bw, 1 x
3Bd.

1 x Armenian contingent; 1 x 4Kn, 1 x 2LH, 1 x 3Ax.

2 x Command Sassan adjusted to 3 x 3Kn, 4 x 3Cv, 2 x 2LH.

1 x City State contingent; 1 x 4Kn, 1 x 3Bw, 1 x
3Bd.

1 x Arab tribe; 1 x 2LH, 1 x 4Bd, 1 x 3Bw.

The battle was fought on the big table, so
there was plenty of room for maneuver around five pieces of terrain, 2 x rocky
ground, 2 x difficult hills and 1 x Oasis.

The deployment.

In the foreground, the Parthian CinC deployed
the City State forces on the left where their archers and blade would secure
the oasis. Directly behind, in a second line, was the light horse with a second
reserve formation covering the open flank. On Parthia’s right the heavily
armoured horse extended the main battle line and all light horse units covered
the army’s open right flank. As this part of the battlefield offered little
useful terrain features, the Armenian contingent were held in the second line
as a reserve.

Across the battlefield, Sassan redistributed her
forces giving Ardashir 14 elements including the City State forces while the
young prince with the smaller command formed on the left; the noble cavalry in the
second line and all the Sassanian light horse deployed further to the left to
meet their Parthian counterpart. The Arab contingent was positioned to move
into the area of rough ground and utilize their archery skill against the
Parthians.

Opening moves.

Sassan, as aggressor was beleaguered with low
pip throws during this phase, so closing with the Parthians would have to be a
slow but well timed assault. Therefore, the original plan was scrapped and the
main battle would focus on Ardashir’s effort to break the Parthian CinC’s
command at the start.

This was done by positioning the City State
allies first before moving forward. Subsequent bounds the line of nobles edged
forward to allow Arsavan cavalry to extend the battle line. By the third bound
the Arab contingent were in position to support.

With light horse superiority, the Parthians were
content to seal both enemy flanks. On the left, between the oasis and difficult
hills and on the right, light horse was positioned to take the Sassan light
horse in flank if they moved forward. The armoured knights remained in position
for several turns while this activity was taking place.

Contact.

Turn four, Ardashir takes the initiative to
attack the Parthian cataphracts. For the next four turns, the area between the
oasis and rough ground would be the scene of the most grueling struggles; low
pip score for movement, high score for melee with the following turn, high pip
score for movement, low score for melee. Both sides were slowly inflicting casualties.

On the Parthian side, the City State contingent
were content to hold the oasis and shoot out at passing Sassan cavalry, but
this was not the case for the City State nobles (4Kn) who found themselves in
the middle of a long struggle. As they could not form up with the Parthians,
they found themselves spectators at the main event.

The young Prince.

On the Parthian right both sides were plagued by
low scores such that the light horse were the only units to see action during
the opening phase. The Parthian cataphract and Sassan Arsavan faced each other
without moving.

By turn four, seeing the light cavalry of both
sides skirmishing with no conclusive results, the young Prince moved his nobles
from his reserve position to swing around the Arsavan line and move toward the
junction between the Parthian light horse and the line of cataphracts. The waiting
Arsavan cavalry would see this as their cue and move forward, just like in the
movies.

Sassan light horse was able to wrest an
advantage from the Parthian light horse while the young Prince added a third LH
to their total.

End game.

There were a number of bounds that Ardashir
found himself alone facing three Parthian elements, yet each melee was
successful in recoiling his opponent. The rest of the Sassan nobles were
scrambling to emulate their leader, but only the name of Ardashir would be
remembered in the poems.

By turn ten, Parthia was down three elements for
each command and although Sassan losses were also three, his was the bigger
command that would need five to reach demoralization.

The last bound saw three commands lose an
element forcing Parthia to leave the field and another loss to the Ardashir’s
command. The last was the only knight to recoil against enemy light horse.

An assessment.

This was a long battle which I believe took 90
minutes to complete about 12 moves. This was very different than other cavalry
battles, in fact, this had similarity to a legionnaire engagement; a hard
slugging match lacking finesse.

Aside from that, the allied contingent (a double
dosage) experiment worked well. Adding the extra City State or Armenian cataphract
to the Parthian line did not pose a problem as Jan through high pip scores for
his movement.

On the other hand, I found it expedient to place
the allies in one position with little need later for movement. The City State forces
remained in their position fighting off Parthian LH from turn three until the
end of the game. The Arabs never moved from their rough ground position,
however, the archers were the only unit engaged during the battle, but they did
kill a unit of Parthian cataphract and send other units recoiling back.

Friday, 10 April 2015

These pictured are Old Glory Armenian cataphract and the two packs ordered are enough for two commands (2 x 4Kn ea.). Three of the figures have shields and will make a separate command element for a later period or perhaps another army.

See illustration number 95 of Phil Barker’s The Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome.

The horse archers are a mix of Old Glory Parthian and Sarmatian figures (4 x 2LH ea.). To add variation, I separated bow from the upper thigh to turn the angle of the bow to a horizontal position or lowered the bow so as to load.

The infantry are Old Glory Armenian javelin and bowmen.

The quantity of Cataphract and horse archers are enough for two commands. In the background are extra Cv and LH elements. In a few days these will be ready for varnishing and later ground work and flocking.

In less than a week, they will be ready for a number of test games against their most likely opponents; Rome and Parthia.

Thursday, 9 April 2015

After a period of independence, followed by Roman
rule, Parthia regained control over the province of Armenia by the late 2nd
century. The situation was helped by an epidemic among the Roman forces which
Parthia seized the opportunity to retake much of their lost territory in
Armenia. This forced, the then client king Sohaemus to flee the country to
Syria.

In 198 Vologases II assumed the Parthian throne and named
his son Khosrov I as successor. Septimius Severus’ invasion of Parthia
was delayed briefly to campaign in Armenia. Khosrov I was subsequently captured
by the Romans, who installed one of their own to take charge of kingdom. However
the Armenians themselves revolted against their Roman overlords, and in
accordance to new Rome-Parthia compromise, Khosrov I's son, Tiridates II
(217–252) was made king of Armenia.

After the collapse of the Arsacid
Dynasty (221-227) in Persia, the conquest of Armenia became an objective for
Ardeshir I. As part of reestablishing Persia’s former glory, Zoroastrianism was
proclaimed the state religion which would become a source of friction in
Armenia. In 252, Shapur I occupied Armenia forcing Tiridates II to flee; the
immediate presence of the magi followed by fire temples would make it clear that
Armenia was now part of the Sassanid Empire.

Shapur I installed his own
son Hurmazd on the Armenian throne. When Shapur I died in 270, Hurmazd
took the Persian throne and his brother Narseh ruled Armenia in his
name.

In 285, Diocletian would wage a successful campaign against Persia
and as one of the conditions for a peace settlement was the establishment of
independent Armenia. This was conceded and in 287, Tiridates III was set
as King of Armenia.

Tiridates III as ruler, was in possession of the
western parts of Armenian territory. The Sassanids stirred some nobles to revolt
when Narseh left to take the Persian throne in 293. Rome nevertheless defeated
Narseh in 298, and Khosrov II's son Tiridates III regained control over Armenia
with the support of Roman soldiers.

Compiled from a
number of sites and Wiki.

I have found the capsule overviews, such as this one for Armenia a useful reference tool for devising scenarios our games centred on the 3rd century. Rome had a number of campaigns as well as
Parthia and later Sassan Persia; these will offer some interesting introduction
games. Of further interest are the kingdoms on the periphery of Armenia.

Useful reading:

Sasanian Persia, The Rise and Fall of an Empire by Touraj Daryaee
offered some useful direction and prompted me to look to the smaller kingdoms of
Kolkhis, Iberia, and Albania.

I had not realised how great a threat the
nomadic tribes north of the Caucasus were until I read about the defensive
measures that were set in place. Aside from the forts, some villages had no need
of walls as each house was fortified. Somewhat reminiscent of the fortified
manors of Roman Africa.

Friday, 3 April 2015

Both commands are now complete and ready for mayhem and empty promises.

Camel riders are the Colonial Ansar from Old Glory, dressed in similar colours as the foot and carrying shield. The standard is a simple circular emblem with coloured
streamers tied underneath.
The two commands are slightly different, one have more reds and the other more beige tones.

Thursday, 2 April 2015

I have added the Arabs to this project to serve as allies for the major powers
of the period. Again, the Internet has proven a useful source for information on
the major participants, but offers little covering the Pre-Islamic Arabs.

What proved a useful guide was the BBC program In Our Time with Melvyn
Bragg, the Great Arab Conquest. As a foundation for discussion of the conquests,
the Pre-Islamic Period is described well enough to offer a good general
direction.

These
have a mix of headdress, shield and clothing for both foot and mounted. None are
mounted on camels, so I will use the camel mounted Ansar (Sudan range) and add
necessary items to make their appearance similar.

Pictured above are the Lurkio Later Moors which I am using as Pre-Islamic Arabs. I actually
need 2 x LH (including General) per command and these now have poles fixed to their bases.

Extra
LH will certainly be handy for special scenarios or fill the ranks for an actual
Later Moorish army. You never know.

The Arab foot figures, also from Lurkio, are a mix of bow, slingers and lastly javelin types, who will double as blade.